So far I have focused my computer science teaching at the high school level, but there is nothing saying we can’t teach computer science at an even younger age. I’ve read about research showing that we need to start teaching computer science even earlier than high school. My wife is assisting in an initiative to develop curriculum through Gigabots to teach programming and robotics to 4th and 5th graders. Through a series of half-hour lessons, they are hoping students will be able to embrace the role of a creator with confidence. They start by learning what is a robot, then they work on outputs (controlling the robot), then on to inputs (using the sensors change the robot’s behavior) to getting the robots to work together to accomplish a goal.
The hardware is based off the of the Lego Mindstorm EV3 with custom firmware and web-based software to make the robots programmable and interconnected through the cloud. Because of the interconnected network and cloud-based system, one can share their code with their classmate's or friend's robot and even exchange information. Not only will the kids learn programming concepts, but also how to work in groups, which is a key component of software development.
I am fascinated to see where this development goes. The plans and curriculum are still being developed and piloted to a select few schools, but I could really see this concept taking off!